It seems that political rallies are all the rage these days, and the two recent ones -- the human chain rally on Feb. 28 and the pan-blue rallies on March 13 -- had their strong and weak points. They can be from five perspectives.
The first is suitability. The 228 rally was premised on concern for Taiwan itself, and it consequently mobilized and inspired many people. Naturally, one specific candidate reaped the benefits, but the election itself was not the focus. The 313 rally was a purely political event conducted on behalf of the candidates for the presidency and vice-presidency.
Creativity is necessary if the rally is to capture the attention of the media and the hearts of the people. The inspiration behind the 228 human chain lies in the independence movement of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Two million people in Taiwan joined the call, forming a chain stretching from Keelung to Pingtung. The 313 rally was just as newsworthy, but hardly creative as far as political rallies go. What's more, the call to start the event at 3:20pm was copied straight from the 228 rally, when everybody joined hands at exactly 2:28pm.
Next we have viability, which in the case of the 228 rally was dangerously low considering the complications involved in getting an unbroken line of people over a distance of 500km. The 313 event was relatively simple, and any mishaps were unlikely to influence the rally as a whole.
Uniqueness is another factor. The date 228 has great historical significance to the Taiwanese, and the decision to hold the event on this day imbued it with both meaning for the nation as a whole as well as timeliness. March 13 was merely the final weekend before the election.
Finally, there is topicality. Rallies should be able to sustain discussion among the media and the electorate even after the initial excitement. Unfortunately, this condition was not met by the 228 rally, but the media is sure to pursue Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) statement that he only plans to serve for one term.
Considering his age, this statement was not so surprising. What will be of more interest is what People First Party (PFP) James Soong (宋楚瑜) and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) will do.
All in all, the 313 rally was successful, although some lessons need to be learned, and in some ways they came close to overkill. Kissing the soil was unnecessary. Lien has been in Taiwan for several decades now, and this action was both superfluous and unwarranted.
The excitement stirred up by 313 did indeed have something of a "viagra" effect, but people would do well to concentrate more on the KMT's potential to favor sinicization and big cities while turning its back on mainstream Taiwanese culture.
The television broadcasts of the 313 event are also worthy of discussion. An election rally of this size both can and should be broadcast, but it was not appropriate for the KMT-run China Television Co to organize the pooling of TV footage from different stations. It is important for the media to maintain objectivity. Unfortunately, given the nature of capitalism, the historical background and business interests, totally unbiased reporting is an impossibility.
The current state of democracy in Taiwan is the result of over a decade of struggle and is something that we should all cherish. Was this same sentiment really felt by people who over 10 years ago had vehemently criticized the tangwai (outside the party) movement's street demonstrations as a traffic nuisance -- even as they participated in the 313 event along Chunghsiao East Road last Saturday?
Cheng Tzu-leong is a professor in the department of advertising at National Chengchi University.
Translated by Paul Cooper
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